Moses' new role will include work on Discovery Themes strategiesRandy Moses will provide strategic oversight in the Office of Research in his new position as senior associate vice president. His work will involve broadening major research initiatives and strengthening partnerships with college deans, college research officers and other university offices. He also will play a role in coordinating Discovery Themes strategies. Moses is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and has served as associate dean for research in the College of Engineering since 2008. Read more.

Big ideas: Researchers imagine ultimate challenge In a three-part series titled Master Minds, eight researchers affiliated with the Discovery Themes are among a dozen faculty members who describe the big problems they would tackle if given unlimited time, money and resources. The third and final installment of the series, which appears in the Ohio State Alumni magazine, will be in the May-June issue. DT affiliates Jesus Lara, Yael Vodovotz, Jeff Bielicki, Alison Norris, Arnab Nandi, Douglas Scharre and Zhong-Lin Lu were featured in the series, as was Debbie Goff, whose story also was produced as a video. Read more here and here.

A culture of collaboration and engagement

From the start, an intrinsic goal of the Discovery Themes was to encourage and simplify interdisciplinary collaboration across the university. One indication this is happening is the number of faculty and staff engaged in the initiative. As of early March, 772 were involved in one or more of the eight DT programs. This number includes 89 tenured or tenure-track faculty who were hired through the initiative. Another 81 positions have been approved.

Provost's lecture: Richard Florida on the New Urban CrisisRichard Florida, author of the best-selling The Rise of the Creative Class and a former Ohio State faculty member, will speak from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. on April 19 at Mershon Auditorium as part of the Provost’s Discovery Themes lecture series. In his recently released book, The New Urban Crisis, Florida argues that cities are becoming small areas of privilege surrounded by vast swaths of disadvantage. Florida was quoted by The Columbus Dispatch in a recent series on the city's economic segregation and wage disparity. His lecture is free and open to the public, but registration is requested.

STEAM Factory partners on Research, Short and SweetThe Discovery Themes and the STEAM Factory are partnering to host quarterly, informal speed networking seminars in a series called Research, Short and Sweet. Each program will feature up to 40 researchers from across the university who explain their work in one minute using a single PowerPoint slide. Fourteen people—including Mike Rayo, above, of integrated systems engineering—presented their work on March 30 at the inaugural program, which focused on leveraging big data. Other topics in the series are: Sustaining Energy and the Environment, June 13; Promoting Health and Wellness, Sept.13; and Fostering Food Production and Security, Jan. 23. For more information or to register contact Amy Spellacy.

SRE assists Ohio EPA with online waste marketplaceThe Sustainable and Resilient Economy program will collaborate with the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Ohio EPA on a new online marketplace that allows Ohio businesses, not-for-profits and government organizations to advertise and acquire potentially useful waste material—such as bricks, pallets and spent foundry sand—that might otherwise end up in landfills. With the creation of the Ohio Materials Marketplace, Ohio is the first state to adopt a circular economy program of this scope and scale. (In a circular economy, all products and by-products recirculate productively, effectively eliminating waste.) Executive Director Joseph Fiksel said that SRE is assembling a group of interdisciplinary experts to address technology and governance challenges related to large-scale realization of a circular economy. Read more.

Cornish joins panel charged with steering course of biofuels R&DKatrina Cornish, an Ohio Research Scholar and Endowed Chair in Bio-based Emergent Materials, has been appointed to an independent federal panel responsible for advising the Biomass Research and Development Initiative. A collaboration between the Energy and Agriculture departments, the initiative is focused on refining various types of feedstocks and crops into next-generation biofuels or bio-based chemicals and products. In her new role, Cornish hopes to bring more attention—and more funding—to research on alternative crops that could be used as biofuels. Read more.

Cornish lab using food scraps as tire additiveAn essential filler used to strengthen automobile tires is increasingly in short supply, but food scraps might one day ease the pinch. Katrina Cornish and her research group at Ohio State's Wooster campus have developed an environmentally friendly method that uses finely ground eggshells and tomato peels to partially replace carbon black, a petroleum-based filler that accounts for about 30 percent of all tires. Cornish says the technology has the potential to make tire manufacturing more sustainable, reduce the industry’s dependence on foreign oil, and decrease waste in landfills. Her team’s work has attracted national and international media attention. Cornish is affiliated with the SRE and MMS programs. Read more.

Project launches to improve resiliency of Ohio farmsThe Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation is teaming up with Solutions from the Land on a multiyear project to help Ohio farmers lead the way to an agriculture that preserves the land and adapts to a changing climate, and a food system that takes care of all Ohioans. The project launched last week with the inaugural meeting of the 34-member steering committee. One of the first steps will be to address the challenge of food insecurity in Ohio. One in six households struggle with keeping nutritious food on the table, and nearly one in four children face days without adequate, nutritious food. InFACT co-leads Casey Hoy and Brian Snyder will be joined on the steering committee by Ohio State colleagues Bobby Moser, David Hanselmann and Jill Clark. Solutions from the Land is a national collaboration led by a group of active farm, forestry and conservation leaders. It is coordinating the three-year first phase of a longer term project with the support of a $500,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Read more.

InFACT plan focuses on low-income familiesWith the support of a three-year $750,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation (InFACT) is creating a plan to develop a network of between 100 and 500 low-income families, particularly in communities of color, that could grow food and sell it to Ohio State and perhaps to other institutions and businesses in the area. The goal is to provide technical assistance and training so families could start small-scale food enterprises that both supplement their income and improve their children’s nutrition. Read more.

Spees wins grant to fight obesity among kids in needInFACT faculty affiliate Colleen Spees has received a $978,383 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fight childhood obesity in disadvantaged communities. The multi-year grant will support Summer Harvest Adventure, which will promote strategies to prevent obesity while filling the summer meal gap for children 8 to 11. Spees will lead the project with Ingrid Adams, who was recently hired in conjunction with InFACT. Both are faculty members in the Division of Medical Dietetics and Health Sciences in the College of Medicine. Read more.

Brian Snyder: Time to move needle on food securityIn a Q&A in edible Columbus, Brian Snyder said InFACT’s ongoing strategic planning is defining a driving goal: to improve food security so Ohio is no longer below the national and regional averages in that category. Snyder, who jointly leads InFACT with Casey Hoy, is scheduled to contribute to the quarterly magazine through 2017. Read more.

Report on future of data analytics recognizes TDA Translational Data Analytics’ innovative approach to establishing industry partnerships has drawn praise in a report by PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) and the Business-Higher Education Forum. TDA’s impact in aligning partnerships that support the university's mission and enhance its academic reputation was highlighted in Investing in America’s data science and analytics workforce: A case for action. The report was released March 30 at a forum sponsored by The Atlantic magazine on Data Analytics & Tomorrow’s Workforce. Read more.

Ohio State, Nagoya create faculty exchange programWorking with leaders in Japan, Translational Data Analytics has developed a faculty exchange program in data research between Ohio State and Nagoya University. The partnership with the Graduate School of Information Science gives Ohio State researchers the opportunity to work on collaborative projects in Nagoya for three to six months beginning this summer. Nagoya University President Seiichi Matsuo and Executive Vice President and Provost Bruce McPheron, center, formalized the agreement at a ceremony on March 9 at Thompson Library. To the provost's left are TDA lead dean David Manderscheid, vice provost for the Arts and Sciences and executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; and David Williams, executive dean of Ohio State’s professional colleges and dean of the College of Engineering. Read more.

Krishna gets $3 million for infrared detector researchA $3 million grant could help make Ohio State a global leader in next-generation infrared detector technology. Electrical and computer engineering professor Sanjay Krishna had only been at Ohio State a month—hired as part of the Materials and Manufacturing for Sustainability Discovery Themes initiative—when the Office of Naval Research awarded him the grant. Krishna is a world-leading researcher and innovator in the field of narrow bandgap semiconductors applied to infrared imaging sensors and related technologies. Read more.

Collaboratories extend reach across disciplinesSeveral pilot projects funded by the Humanities and the Arts program are experimenting with time-limited, intensive collaboratories that bring together artists, humanists, and scholars from a range of disciplines. For example, in January the ColLABoratory helped forge closer ties between Project Narrative and the program in Disability Studies. At this one-day conference 75 faculty members and graduate students explored interconnections—and tensions—among narrative, medicine, disability, and rhetoric. In March, the Humane Technologies Pop-Up Collaboration for Livable Futures brought 150 faculty and students together over five days to work on artist-driven human technology projects. The collaboratories are encouraging colleagues in arts and humanities to work in lab settings that are more common in the sciences, marking a culture shift in their scholarly practice.

Human rights project launches immigration podcasts Human Rights in Transit, a Humanities and the Arts Discovery Themes pilot project, is a collaborative network of Ohio State faculty and graduate students invested in thinking critically about human rights, the human, and the environment. The project has launched a series of informational podcasts, the most recent of which is about sanctuary cities. Read more.

Oglesbee takes over leadership of new Infectious Diseases InstituteMike Oglesbee, professor of veterinary biosciences, has been named interim director of the newly established Infectious Diseases Institute, which is being created to better support and elevate related research across nine colleges at Ohio State. On March 31, he and his team led a half-day retreat with key stakeholders to review the strategic plan and discuss implementation. Oglesbee succeeds Larry Schlesinger, who laid the groundwork for the institute and served as director for both the Center for Microbial Interface Biology (CMIB) and the Public Health Preparedness in Infectious Disease (PHPID) program. Oglesbee, whose appointment became effective March 1, jointly leads the Discovery Themes Infectious Diseases program with Cathie Smith. Read more.

Second round scheduled for faculty Discovery TalksBuilding on the success of its inaugural Discovery Talks training, the Infectious Diseases program is coaching a second group of faculty members to deliver TED-style talks that will help educate the community, alumni, legislators and others about the threats we face and the research being done to overcome them. The 10 faculty members have been training since February with Ruth Milligan, founder of Articulation Inc., and will have their final presentation beginning at 9:30 a.m. on April 21 in Room 105 of the Biomedical Research Tower (BRT). Register to attend.

DT groups welcome defense research director The Infectious Diseases and Chronic Brain Injury programs co-hosted a campus visit March 8-9 by Dr. Justin Sanchez, director of the Biological Technologies Office within the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The visit included roundtable discussions with Ohio State experts about the use of electrical currents to block infections associated with wound healing; enhancing the body’s immune responses to fight respiratory infections; and restoring and accelerating human performance with neurotechnology.

Panel to explore art therapy to treat brain injuriesThe Chronic Brain Injury program is sponsoring an ideation panel focusing on arts-based rehabilitation therapy for brain injuries at the Global Brain Health & Performance Summit on Friday, April 28th at the Columbus Downtown Hilton. The panel is moderated by Lise Worthen-Chaudhari and includes panelists from English, Music, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Speech & Hearing Sciences. The goal is to develop a platform and vision for coursework and research across the arts and humanities, as well as rehabilitation medicine. CBI also is sponsoring a poster reception immediately after the panel. The entire event goes from 4:30 to 7 p.m. To receive a complimentary registration, go to the website, select New Registration, enter ID Code DC2017, select Day Rate as the category, and choose Art and Rehabilitation Roundtable session.

CBI and partners collaborate on campus bike safety CBI is joining with Share the Road, Student Wellness, Student Life, and Transportation and Traffic Management to improve bicycle safety and prevent concussions and other traumatic brain injuries on campus. Currently in development, the project would include educational messaging about safe biking practices, traumatic brain injury prevention and symptoms, and on-campus treatment services.

Foods for Health offers $125,000 in seed grantsAn RFP is open for a second round of seed grants funded by the Foods for Health Discovery Theme. A total of up to $125,000 will be awarded for proposals of up to $25,000 each to advance interdisciplinary collaboration and scientific approaches integrating foods and nutrition, metabolomics, and health. Proposals are due April 14. View RFP

FFH, Ohio Mass Spec team up for May conferenceThe Inaugural Conference on Food and Nutritional Metabolomics will be held in conjunction with the 14th Annual Ohio Mass Spectrometry Symposium on May 17-18 at the Ohio Union. Academic and industrial researchers will present findings, share information, and spark new collaborations in the rapidly advancing fields of metabolomics and mass spectrometry. Information and registration.

New innovation chief to lead Smart ColumbusMike Stevens, a former deputy director in the city’s development department, will lead Columbus’ smart city initiative and serve as the city's first chief innovation officer. Smart Columbus had its start last year when the city topped a field of 78 to win the inaugural Smart City Challenge sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Ohio State is the lead researcher for Smart Columbus and is already testing autonomous cars, sensors to make travel safer, and tools to connect communities to more flexible transportation options. Read more.

Capstone connects students to Smart ColumbusFor the past few months, undergraduate seniors in the Environment, Economy, Development and Sustainability (EEDS) degree program have been working with Smart Columbus officials to create projects that further the smart technology initiative. Student projects include researching a street-light pilot program on campus, analyzing the electric vehicle market, benchmarking the progress of autonomous vehicles, and raising awareness of green energy plans for small businesses in the Worthington area. On April 18, as part of the monthly breakfast series hosted by The Environmental Professionals Network, 14 Ohio State senior capstone teams will present a poster session for representatives from the Smart Columbus program office, including its manager, Aparna Dial. The event will be at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4‑H Center.

REI's sustainability chief to speak at Ohio StateAs an executive and a world-class climber, Vik Sahney has a simple message: Combine your work and passions and you can conquer mountains. Sahney, vice president for sustainability for Seattle-based REI, has climbed the highest peaks on all seven continents, including Mt. Everest. He will speak at 7 p.m. on April 12 in the Archie M. Griffin Grand Ballroom at the Ohio Union. HIs presentation is titled “From Summits to Sustainability: Reaching for High Places, Personally and Professionally.” The event, sponsored in part by SRE, is free but registration is required. Read more.

Industry Liaison Office offers hands-on help The Industry Liaison Office consults with Ohio State faculty, staff and postdocs to provide a fundamental understanding of the value of industry engagement, to explain the tools for vetting and solidifying opportunities, and to identify the university resources that are essential to secure and nurture industrial relationships. Consultation hours are from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on April 20, May 18 and June 15 in the Research Commons. Appointments can be scheduled up to six weeks in advance and are available in 30 minute segments. Registration is preferred but drop-ins are welcome. ILO also offers publications that can help guide university-industry partnerships.

CONSIDER JOINING THE CONVERSATIONOhio State is a founding university partner with The Conversation, a website that publishes articles by academics with expert knowledge of important topics in the news. The Conversation develops articles two ways: by soliciting specific subject-matter experts through its newsletter, and by encouraging academics to pitch their ideas directly to the editors. Once an idea is accepted, The Conversation works with faculty to produce the story, typically 800 to 1,000 words. Ohio State professors have seen their work republished in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, Newsweek and other major outlets.